Wednesday

Sep 28, 2011 at 12:01 AMSep 28, 2011 at 12:54 PM

Make no mistake, James Wisniewski is no hero. The Blue Jackets defenseman did not give his life for his country. Further, bravery and courage are attributes best ascribed to the war dead and surviving warriors who sacrificed personal safety for the benefit of fellow soldiers.

Make no mistake, James Wisniewski is no hero. The Blue Jackets defenseman did not give his life for his country. Further, bravery and courage are attributes best ascribed to the war dead and surviving warriors who sacrificed personal safety for the benefit of fellow soldiers.

Wisniewski’s on-ice actions, which on Monday drew an eight-game regular-season suspension from the NHL, should not be compared to any Medal of Honor recipient. He is not Lucian Adams, a Texan who advanced alone through machine gun fire in the Montagne forest during World War II and single-handedly killed nine Germans, eliminated three machine guns, destroyed a specialized force armed with automatic weapons and grenade launchers, cleared the woods of enemy influence and reopened the severed supply lines to the assault companies of his battalion.

All Wisniewski did was stand up for a teammate by acting in the moment, dropping Minnesota’s Cal Clutterbuck with an ill-advised blow to the head at the end of an exhibition game on Friday, in retaliation for a hit against teammate Fedor Tyutin. But while patrolling the ice should not be confused with military valor, there is something necessary and valuable, if not exactly noble, in the way Wisniewski wields an unwavering allegiance to hockey’s version of the Montagne forest. And for that he deserves at least the mettle of honor.

Everyone involved in group settings — whether soldiers, athletes or office workers — benefits from those who care so much about the people, place or product that they take a stand when they sense the workplace being threatened. Without that pushy person, things limp along like a bowl of soggy cereal.

The Blue Jackets often resemble corn flakes left too long in milk. Inside their chests they care, but the external visage is ho-humness. Visible passion does not equate to skilled performance, but neither does hockey exist in a flat-line vacuum. Emotion matters to those ticket-holders who pay the freight. Jackets fans, as patient as any perpetually disappointed fan base in America, deserve more than the obligatory “This is not acceptable,” comments that come from those who play like they accept it.

Some of the Jackets are like World War I troops dug in along the Western Front who turned trenches into living quarters. They spent years in those muddy veins, stagnant between bursts of action.

Along comes Wisniewski, who reminds Jackets fans of Tyler Wright and Jody Shelley, except with more talent. He seldom backs down from a fight, but neither is he an enforcer. The best description is that the 27-year-old owns a fist without being a thug.

It is a thin distinction, however, between leaving the foxhole to find the enemy and getting removed from the fight before actual victory can be claimed. The eight-game suspension is about a tenth of the season. The Blue Jackets did not sign Wisniewski to a six-year, $33?million contract in July to have him sit. The severity of the penalty was due in part to Wisniewski’s history of suspensions — four since 2008 — said Brendan Shanahan, NHL vice president of player safety.

One NHL insider with coaching experience said Wisniewski needs to learn to channel his emotion in a different direction or “the next hit and they’ll really whack him.”

But Wisniewski also brings a positive presence to the team, the executive said.

“It’s been a rough start for him, but it could end up being a really good thing,” he said. “A player that has that edge and that passion is someone who is always going to have players rally around him. That passion becomes contagious. And when you play against players like that, it makes you uneasy.”

It’s called playing with attitude. It shows toughness. It shows leadership. It shows Wisniewski cares. That doesn’t make him a hero. Hockey is not war. But the Blue Jackets benefit by knowing that when the figurative bullets fly, Wisniewski will take one for the team.

Rob Oller is a sports reporter for The Dispatch.

roller@dispatch.com

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